Innovative technologies in spearguns and diving equipment

Innovative technologies in spearguns and diving equipment

The deep sea exploration it has always fascinated the human soul, and the technical challenges born from the desire to reach ever more remote places are still the driving force of a history made up of great pioneers and revolutionary inventions.

If just thirty years ago it was unthinkable to dive in winter with a comfortable wetsuit of the right size, today the diving experience is efficient, stimulating and suitable for everyone. Whether it's underwater fishing or tourist diving to discover marine wrecks or ocean creatures, the right equipment allows you to explore the seabed in a safe and increasingly performing way, and this is the result of decades of research and innovation.

Underwater innovations, a history of pioneers

The twentieth century was a golden age of underwater innovation: thanks to the ingenuity of pioneers like Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Pulvénis brothers dozens of new technologies have been introduced, which in the space of a few decades have completely revolutionized underwater disciplines.

In Italy, the first diving equipment began to be seen in the thirties: fins, masks, snorkels and heavy spring guns make their appearance below the coast, and the spearfishing it becomes a rather common practice in seaside resorts. However, diving does not yet fall within the scope of recreational activities, and is still accessible to a small minority of people.

Over the course of twenty years, therecreational diving becomes a consolidated reality thanks to the revolutionary invention of Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Émile Gagnan, who in the 1940s developed theAqualung, the first open-circuit underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA) to achieve commercial success. We are already far from the days of leather diving suits and frogmen, but diving will continue to evolve relentlessly together with the aspirations of men, making the practice of technical and recreational diving increasingly safe and accessible.

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, the use of underwater computers is now the norm and science seems to concentrate its efforts on the topic of submarine communication. TheInternet of Underwater Things, a sort of underwater IoT, and work is underway to make long-distance underwater communications practicable, succeeding in an undertaking that still seems science fiction today and which could have a huge impact on the practice of diving.

The evolution of diving equipment

Le diving disciplines are intrinsically linked to technology: in scuba diving in ARO the equipment determines exactly how far you can go, and your survival depends directly on the correct functioning of the equipment.

In 'a this relationship with technology is less central, but just thinking about carrying out any underwater activity is enough to bring you back to terms with the importance of adequate equipment. Spearfishing, for example, relies on increasingly powerful, precise and easy to handle spearguns and neoprene wetsuits which allow you to fish even in the middle of winter, the result of decades of innovation and experimentation.

Le fins, for example, have benefited considerably from studies on the subject of hydrodynamics and by the discovery of new materials: the old rubber equipment, heavy and not very resistant to rocks and other obstacles, were soon replaced by modern fins in fiberglass and carbon, which offer different degrees of lightness and impact resistance, and allow you to find the perfect rigidity for your kick.

The silent and diving masks they have become more performing and comfortable to wear, thanks to the development of new materials such as neoprene and the advent of increasingly ergonomic designs. Furthermore, new knowledge has made it possible to understand that too much air inside the mask can become a factor of discomfort when free diving, and progress in the field of optics has made it possible to create masks with graduated lenses, revolutionizing the lives of short-sighted, astigmatic or far-sighted divers.

Advanced diving equipment: the computer age

The last part of the twentieth century was marked by the fate of one of the greatest innovations in submarine technology: the dive computer. Anticipated by "analog" decompression meters with an air chamber and porous ceramic membrane, the first electronic computers for underwater activity profoundly changed the world of breathing apparatus diving.

Il DecoBrain andOrca Edge, both dated 1979, allowed us to calculate the partial pressure of inert gases in the body based on depth and on dive profile, and warned the diver when the ascent speed was excessive or a decompression stop was missed.

The optimization of these tools, which could rely on parameter monitoring in real time, constituted an important step forward in the field of underwater safety: the constant control of parameters such as time, depth and oxygen levels allows you to significantly reduce the risk of decompression sickness.

Today's dive computers are direct descendants of the legendary instruments that shocked the 1980s: they measure environmental pressure to calculate the partial pressure of gases within the body's tissues, and through complex decompression algorithms they establish an ascent speed and decompression stops to be respected, roughly carrying out the calculations that would be done using a watch, depth gauge and decompression tables.

The majority of dive computers are designed for open circuit SCUBA sets, and in general diving with breathing apparatus is the one that has benefited most from this innovation. Today, however, there are products specifically designed for the needs of those who do a completely different type of diving, such as those who practice diving Spearfishing. For example, there are dive computers that provide, together with the depth and dive time, also the progressive number of dives and the GPS navigation, allowing you to track the entire expedition and memorize the places to return to on the map.

Innovative technologies in spearguns: the advent of rubbers

When it comes to underwater fishing, innovation mainly concerns spearguns: from the first rudimentary instruments built with bicycle pumps and very powerful springs, like those designed by Pulvénis brothers in the thirties of the last century, we arrived in less than a hundred years to have light and very powerful spearguns.

The first spear gun in history was a long copper tube, and was followed over the years by various iterations of the spring gun, all sharing a characteristic that seemed unavoidable: these guns were heavy, long and decidedly difficult to handle.

Then rifles were born compressed air and the propelled ones oleopneumatics, which allowed you to adjust the shooting power while remaining quite heavy. The most performing models offered by Italian manufacturers managed to move thehandle on the back, inspired by the performance of the first spearguns that were popular abroad, but for the real turning point we would have had to wait for the advent of these new generation rifles, made up of a wooden structure with rear handle and a strong rubber band to throw the rod. Lightweight and extremely easy to handle, spearguns were more powerful and capable of making much more precise shots, and quickly conquered an important share of the market.

With the introduction of these new tools, spearfishing has changed forever: if before it involved a physical prowess out of the ordinary due to the size and weight of pneumatic rifles, with the advent of the spear gun it became one accessible discipline practically everyone. And the most experienced fishermen could only appreciate the power and practicality of the new generation spearguns.

The latest evolution in speargun propulsion: roller technology

- traditional spearguns double and triple rubber spearfishers have been the first choice of spear fishermen for years (and for many they still are today thanks to their extreme ease of handling, which makes them the ideal tool in some fishing scenarios).

At a certain point, however, a technology began to become widespread that guarantees decidedly better performance: thanks to pulleys it is possible to exploit the travel of the elastics up to the muzzle, obtaining very powerful throws with a rifle of even shorter length and weight. . There roller technology, initially ostracized due to the poor results of some of its variations, is today considered the most cutting-edge form of propulsion for spearguns.

Perfected and optimized, this technology has gone through afurther evolution. By adding two pulleys near the mechanism of a pre-tensioned speargun, it is possible lengthen the pretension and obtain an enhanced booster: from this intuition the Alemanni special roller spearguns, light and very powerful spearguns that allow you to throw the rod at considerable distances and quickly adapt the power of the shot to different fishing situations.

Another side on which to play the innovation of spearguns is that of design, an aspect that goes far beyond aesthetics: at the same time as the introduction of new materials such as carbon, work began on the shape and mass of spearguns, reducing thicknesses to a minimum in order to increase usability and efficiency.

Spearfishing Buddy, innovation meets ingenuity

Le underwater innovations they are not just about the development and optimization of tools that make diving safer, such as dive computers and the Kingii, a wearable device that can be activated in an emergency for a self-managed ascent.

In some cases, ingenuity can take the form of tools performance oriented and to the improvement of the athletic gesture: this is the case ofAlemanni Spearfishing Buddy, a revolutionary variable descent system which allows you to immerse yourself independently during training and educational activities.

It is composed of a powerful electric winch with integrated clutch mounted on a floating watertight locker, which allows you to establish the desired depth and descent speed. Used with a buddy on the surface, Spearfishing Buddy can recover the diver on request: a very useful feature for training but also for saving energy during fishing, and also an example of how the intuitions and experiments of manufacturers can contribute to making everyone's underwater experience even safer and more stimulating - professionals, explorers , tourists on holiday and underwater fishermen.